State Audit identifies major banks with idle land holdings

State Audit Office (KTNN) has identified a series of issues following audits of financial and banking institutions, including ineffective investments, numerous idle land parcels, and shortcomings in meeting targets for handling bad debts under the 2021-2025 restructuring program. The audit also cited misclassification of debts and improper social insurance spending.

KTNN said that in 2024, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) managed monetary policy actively and flexibly, helping to control inflation at 2.7%, ensure liquidity and system safety, and support economic growth. The SBV also continued restructuring the banking system, addressing weak banks, controlling bad debts, and implementing priority credit programs under government directives to support production, business and social welfare.

Banking system performance and safety indicators

KTNN reported that the system-wide average lending rate at the end of December 2024 was 8.03%, down about 1.23 percentage points from end-2023. Audited financial institutions, banks and insurers were found to meet safety indicators and operate profitably, with some banks reporting internal bad debt ratios below 3%.

Restructuring plan targets not fully met

Despite overall system stability, KTNN said several targets under the 2021-2025 restructuring plan were not met or faced implementation difficulties. The audit highlighted inefficient or low-return investments at some audited units.

Examples of inefficient investments

• Dong A Bank investment: The parent company invested 37.08 billion VND in shares of Dong A Bank and wrote off the investment’s book value under a decision of the competent authority.
• Oil & Gas Services Trading Company: The parent company invested 43.5 billion VND and recorded a provision of 39.41 billion VND as of 31/12/2024.
• PVI Insurance: Invested 167.97 billion VND in bonds of Song Da Thang Long JSC, with 100% provisioning; invested 103.38 billion VND in funds at OceanBank with no defined repayment horizon; contributed 6 billion VND to TCT Maintenance – Repair of Oil Field Structures, with a provision of 2.68 billion VND; and invested 120 billion VND in OceanBank funds with principal-recovery risk.
• MB Securities: Still held six unlisted equity investments totaling 117 billion VND (arising before the 2012 restructuring). KTNN said the affected companies performed poorly, including two that did not provide information and were unreachable. One company traded on UPCoM from 31/12/2024 but faced low liquidity and current trading restrictions.

Idle land management remains unresolved

KTNN also said inefficient land management and idle or unused land have not been adequately addressed. Specific cases included:

• VDB: 5 land plots totaling about 2.5 hectares left idle.
• BIDV: 28 plots totaling about 2 hectares under study for use or under temporary exploitation while awaiting liquidation or return to the state.
• Vietnam Social Security (BHXH): 25 land plots in provinces/cities no longer needed, reported to the Ministry of Finance but not yet resolved or transferred locally.

Debt classification and target alignment issues

The audit found cases where some banks reclassified debts improperly. For example, KTNN said BIDV reduced Group 1 debt by 302.02 billion VND and Group 3 by 3.86 billion, while increasing Group 2 by 272.99 billion VND, Group 4 by 13.98 billion, and Group 5 by 18.91 billion.

KTNN also cited cases at the Social Policy Bank (NHNo) where lending did not align with intended targets. It reported 391 cases involving 20.76 billion VND, including 125 cases where amounts totaling 19.83 billion VND were recovered.

Improper social insurance spending

KTNN further pointed to improper social insurance spending. It said one-off social insurance payments were made to 2,128 cases without meeting eligibility requirements, totaling 115.13 billion VND. It also said health insurance payments to medical facilities were not in accordance with regulations, totaling 10.67 billion.

Dialysis equipment maintenance payments

According to KTNN, payments for dialysis equipment maintenance reached 1,869.75 billion VND through 31/12/2024. The audit said 1,198 of 4,330 dialysis machines had not yet been tested as of 29/10/2025, with 330 machines remaining uninspected.

Tâm An

VietnamNet